AFL Player #21: Dyson Heppell - Calls time - 13/8

[Lore]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2024
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 27, Highly Evolved

 

[Schnitzengruben]

What's the opposite of Mamba Mentality?

 

[fairbump_playon]

What's the opposite of Mamba Mentality?

LOL. Well put.

 

[DapperDon]

What's the opposite of Mamba Mentality?

The Simmons Mentality?

 

[ant555]

He may not have been one of the greatest captains but he did get handed a basket case inside and out with limited support leadership wise. The whole club was in submissive mode not wanting to offend the AFL and trying not to offend players due to the saga.

 

[Bjchan13]

He may not have been one of the greatest captains but he did get handed a basket case inside and out with limited support leadership wise. The whole club was in submissive mode not wanting to offend the AFL and trying not to offend players due to the saga.

Do you think Brad starts him round 1? Haven't heard his name mentioned a lot in any of the match sim/ training reports

 

[ant555]

Do you think Brad starts him round 1? Haven't heard his name mentioned a lot in any of the match sim/ training reports

He would be 50/50 . Bench maybe but not a lock for sure.

 

[dank420_]

fairbump_playon I think you'll find he is no longer captain and in the twilight of his career.

 

[faible]

Had to go back a ways to find Dyson's thread. Sign of the times.

Just had to record for posterity his statement

“... there’s no part of me that if I was to finish my career, there would be no hole left in me or no sick feeling if I didn’t (win a flag)... there would be no part of me that would feel an inch of sadness.. "

Yes, I edited parts of his statement out to get to the heart of the matter.

But seriously.. WTF. Only our post-saga "she'll be right mate" skipper could feel that way. And even then - to have the lack of awareness to say it out loud while still playing. And to claim elsewhere in the article that he's a better leader now than ever before.

Leading us where?

Leading us right to the middle of the table. Win a few, lose a few. Occasionally after a bad one pretend to be gutted for the cameras. Well not really pretend to be gutted, more just say that you're gutted while not really looking at all gutted. Enjoy a beer with your mates. Repeat. Career.

Between him and Worsfold. Jesus help me. Learnings. How about WINNINGS.

How Heppell has found peace with flag pursuit after handing over Essendon captaincy

The veteran is loving his footy post-captaincy.

www.sen.com.au

Should probably read the full interview for context, or least the part of it surrounding your quoted bit;

With Heppell now in the twilight of his 235-game career, time is running out for him to win a premiership with his beloved Essendon.

He was asked how he feels about the possibility of finishing his playing days without that elusive flag.

The defender insists he now feels comfortable and at peace with his career even if it ends without the ultimate prize.

Heppell replied: “There would be absolutely no part of me, and I can only say this until the last couple of years probably, since doing a lot of work into what we have been talking about…

“No doubt, you play footy because you want to win flags, absolutely.

“But at the same time, there’s no part of me that if I was to finish my career, there would be no hole left in me or no sick feeling if I didn’t (win a flag).

“No doubt it would be the best experience ever, it would be unbelievable, but there would be no part of me that would feel an inch of sadness towards that.”

A bloke almost certainly in the final year of his career, who likely won't be best-22, and in a team that's likely a few years away from genuine Premiership contention has now come to terms and is at peace with what his career has achieved knowing there's pretty much zero chance of winning a flag for him now.

Much less dramatic than your version.

 

[fairbump_playon]

How Heppell has found peace with flag pursuit after handing over Essendon captaincy

The veteran is loving his footy post-captaincy.

www.sen.com.au

Should probably read the full interview for context, or least the part of it surrounding your quoted bit;



A bloke almost certainly in the final year of his career, who likely won't be best-22, and in a team that's likely a few years away from genuine Premiership contention has now come to terms and is at peace with what his career has achieved knowing there's pretty much zero chance of winning a flag for him now.

Much less dramatic than your version.

I read the whole article Owen

The key point is that while still in his playing career he is content with not winning a flag. It’s actually the headline as well as the most relevant quote. It’s not like there is any context in the article which changes what the part I quoted means.

The “drama” you speak of is how I feel about having leaders who are nonplussed about winning. I don’t that’s ok, even late in a career. I also think Heppell expressing that speaks to not just how he feels today but his general orientation to enjoying the journey rather than winning flags.

I personally aspire to that attitude, I just don’t want to see it in the Essendon leadership.

If I sound annoyed, I really am. So should be anyone wondering why we seem to be a nice guy team who rolls over when it gets hard.

 

[fairbump_playon]

fairbump_playon I think you'll find he is no longer captain and in the twilight of his career.

He’s talking like it’s not twilight so much as bed time

 

[faible]

I read the whole article Owen

The key point is that while still in his playing career he is content with not winning a flag. It’s actually the headline as well as the most relevant quote. It’s not like there is any context in the article which changes what the part I quoted means.

The “drama” you speak of is how I feel about having leaders who are nonplussed about winning. I don’t that’s ok, even late in a career. I also think Heppell expressing that speaks to not just how he feels today but his general orientation to enjoying the journey rather than winning flags.

I personally aspire to that attitude, I just don’t want to see it in the Essendon leadership.

If I sound annoyed, I really am. So should be anyone wondering why we seem to be a nice guy team who rolls over when it gets hard.

Looks to me like you're reading in to it what you want to read and ignoring anything else.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Looks to me like you're reading in to it what you want to read and ignoring anything else.

Looks like you haven’t expressed an opinion on whether the lack of any inch of hunger in our main elder statesman matters

Or how that compares to how the likes of an aging Dangerfield might have felt as he contemplated life without a flag

And what if anything that says about Essendon’s current culture vs that of other clubs.

I notice you often seize on an opportunity to address another poster’s process (in this case the fact I quoted selectively) rather than the ideas expressed. This is a great strategy if your aim is to be the smartest guy in the room. You get to stay above the fray and away from the messiness of having an opinion on the matters of substance.

If you think Heppell’s attitude is of no consequence, say that.

 

[dank420_]

If you think Heppell’s attitude is of no consequence, say that.

It is, but your outrage is a few years too late.

 

[Beerfish]

It'll be interesting to see how much he plays in the seniors this year.

 

[ant555]

I read the whole article Owen

The key point is that while still in his playing career he is content with not winning a flag. It’s actually the headline as well as the most relevant quote. It’s not like there is any context in the article which changes what the part I quoted means.

The “drama” you speak of is how I feel about having leaders who are nonplussed about winning. I don’t that’s ok, even late in a career. I also think Heppell expressing that speaks to not just how he feels today but his general orientation to enjoying the journey rather than winning flags.

I personally aspire to that attitude, I just don’t want to see it in the Essendon leadership.

If I sound annoyed, I really am. So should be anyone wondering why we seem to be a nice guy team who rolls over when it gets hard.

Not how I read it .

 

[P Money]

I'm with owen87. The man is not winning a flag, it's over. He's at peace with it. Good for him. I've been critical of his leadership over the years, but at this point it is just accepting reality.

Can't really fault anyone who gets bothered by those statements though, as they do seem in character with the lack of drive and the mentality that he has (at least to the outside observer) displayed throughout his leadership tenure.

 

[Milanista28]

It would be a bigger problem/more annoying if he felt that way the past few seasons, and I'm not willing to rule out that he didn't. He's been a cruisey knacker for a while.

It's clearly a discussion point with people on both sides, hopefully we're all pulling in the win a flag asap direction now.

 

[bombreys]

He would be 50/50 . Bench maybe but not a lock for sure.

Wow, what makes you think that exactly?

I'd have him an absolute lock for round 1. I can't see him playing VFL at any stage either, unless returning from injury or something.

 

[carloss]

Wow, what makes you think that exactly?

I'd have him an absolute lock for round 1. I can't see him playing VFL at any stage either, unless returning from injury or something.

What position do you see him playing?

 

[ant555]

Wow, what makes you think that exactly?

I'd have him an absolute lock for round 1. I can't see him playing VFL at any stage either, unless returning from injury or something.

Because he has not featured in the back 6 that has played all the match sim together so far . Even when Ridley did not play in the sim . Nick Martin looks to have his spot.

 

[faible]

Looks like you haven’t expressed an opinion on whether the lack of any inch of hunger in our main elder statesman matters

Or how that compares to how the likes of an aging Dangerfield might have felt as he contemplated life without a flag

And what if anything that says about Essendon’s current culture vs that of other clubs.

I notice you often seize on an opportunity to address another poster’s process (in this case the fact I quoted selectively) rather than the ideas expressed. This is a great strategy if your aim is to be the smartest guy in the room. You get to stay above the fray and away from the messiness of having an opinion on the matters of substance.

If you think Heppell’s attitude is of no consequence, say that.

The Dangerfield who's not playing for a club that has almost no chance of winning a GF this season, who's not likely in his final season, and who's not likely outside the best-22 for that season? Rather different.

I picked on your process because you selectively quoted one section of his reply, taking all context away, and told everyone that it was the only relevant thing he said.

It's a bad process because the context matters.

Nothing to do with being the smartest guy in the room, I quoted the entirety of what Heppell said so that people can read it within the context it was said and make their own minds up.

I offer plenty of opinions along the way; my opinion is that you took his quote out of context and therefore it does not reflect what he was actually saying, it does however reflect a lot of what you want to tell us he's saying.

 

[Vander18]

He may not have been one of the greatest captains but he did get handed a basket case inside and out with limited support leadership wise. The whole club was in submissive mode not wanting to offend the AFL and trying not to offend players due to the saga.

Tend to agree - club lost its way and idiots like Campbell were unable to balance restoring what needed restoration without devolving into an uncompetitive rabble. The apology to players after well deserved criticism being the lowlight of this era.

Unfortunately I reckon Hepp bought everything these muppets were selling.

 

[bombreys]

Because he has not featured in the back 6 that has played all the match sim together so far . Even when Ridley did not play in the sim . Nick Martin looks to have his spot.

Okay, so essentially guessing you have Martin moving from wing to HBF, Duursma to the wing and Heppell out of the side?

I just can't see Scott playing young guys with Heppell in the VFL. (Edit) - can you see him playing ahead of the likes of Hobbs, Tsatas, Etc.?

 

[bombreys]

What position do you see him playing?

Just my opinion of course, but I think they'll find ways to keep him in. HBF, wing and no doubt as the sub at times. If they were going to play him in the VFL because of form, I feel like they would have done it last year. I also don't think he would have signed on this year if they'd told him he wasn't going to be starting the year best 22/23.

 

[brain taylor]

So should be anyone wondering why we seem to be a nice guy team who rolls over when it gets hard.

club does a doping scandal, derails the careers of entire list, old champ has been bashed in the media for years and is starting to slow down, appoints his heir apparent with the directive "we just ruined a bunch of careers and put ourselves in everyone's bad books so let's just try and get everyone happy again and enjoy footy", club fails to develop other leaders and tries desperately to squeeze as much of it can out of the list it has, tops up with name brand players just in time for an exodus of key players (woops if only we knew joe didn't wanna be here lol), learnings guy leaves and is replaced with a guy explicitly instructed to be as nice and chill as possible, kids carry on playin' on their phones in class until the substitute teacher is sacked, meanwhile we're still looking for leaders in here, especially since old hepp is held together by a roll of tape and a prayer, but ah well lets just trot him out anyway 'cos at least he does the team stuff (would be nice if anyone else did).

I love captain merrett but he took a long time to become this version of himself, and these wider cultural issues run through the whole club. If you're pinning this much on hepp i think you need to wonder harder.